Just before Thanksgiving we had a cold snap. It was overcast and extremely windy. Lows sunk to 42 degrees at night and we layered up since our drafty little apartment doesn't have heat. One night Rick lit the gas oven and cracked the door so he could study at the kitchen table! Being Minnesotans, we were sure that we were in for months of this, but were reassured by Guatemalans that this was a shock to them and they didn't expect this cold till January.
It did warm up again, but we have learned the following formula of weather in Antigua:
If it is calm and sunny, it will be warm.
If it is windy and sunny, it the weather will be fair.
If is is calm and overcast, it will be cool.
If is is windy and overcast, it will be "cold".
The weather is variable and can cycle through all of these options in a day. That's sort of the tricky thing about this so called winter, one day it can feel like June and the next like October.
Now we don't want you to think we have turned into wimps in just a few short months, but once you get used to sunny days in the high 70s and lows in the mid 60s, high winds and lows in the 40s is a little shocking.
Homes here are built for the tropics, so none are heated. The windows are not sealed. In fact many windows are part louvered so they are never airtight. Our apartment doors have nice gaps at the bottom so the wind can come whistling through! We also have an open-air hallway. When it is warm this brings fresh air to our rooms; when it is cold this is a chilly breezeway.
Overall we are enjoying the climate here, even if we have to layer up and peel layers off throughout the day!
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